


Safe For a While

by TheRapidFanGeek



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Homophobia, Hopeless Romantic, M/M, Out of Character, Soft Spot Conlon, Some angst, Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins-centric, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 01:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17736143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRapidFanGeek/pseuds/TheRapidFanGeek
Summary: Race is in a fight with some Newsies after a  breakup with Smalls, Spot's there to save him.-Note + warning-WARNING: Not really anything homophobic, but it can be interpreted that way so please don't read or just skip the part where Race and Specs argue if you don't like that stuff! You'll know you're there of you see Race say “Specs, I’m gonna give you three seconds to apologize before I shove your face in the ground.”-This is really out of character. Like, really-really. And pretty messy and unedited, but it's just to help me get myself back into that writing zone. Plus, it's been a long while sense I've written Newsies stuff so let me have this! It's not too bad, I promise.Also! If you want some background notes I have for this story, like certain ideas and stuff feel free to check out the notes at the end! I'm thinking of making a series and it's going to be based off most those Ideas, this is like a non-canon part of it.





	Safe For a While

“Newsies of New York City… We won!” 

Those words had made hundreds of kids cheer, cheer on the fact they had done what they were working for and won. It was a moment of pure joy, excitement, no body reacted quite how anyone expected. Some kids hugged, other broke into tears. It was just magical. Plus, the refuge was shut down, the kids were freed! 

So, of course a celebration was in order and everyone was more than happy to attend. So, two weeks after the Strike and after some planning, Kids from all over New York who participated in the strike had come to Medda’s theater to bask in the glory of their victory.

So with it being so crowded and full of life, no one had noticed Race slip off out of the party and into some dressing room. 

“Breath in… out, drink… repeat,” Race murmured to himself as he leaned his head on the cold wall, his eyes closed as he took a small sip off his water. He rubbed at his eyes after another moment and then took another drink, sighing. “Thank God the fellas didn't see that,” he sighed, a hand coming up to run through his hair. “Glad the fellas didn't see what?” A voice asked and Race jumped. He opened his eyes and peered over to where the voice had come from but his vision blurred them out. The rubbing must've irritated them. He blinked a few times but gave up, instead closing them again. “Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?” he heard the guy give a soft hum. “I wasn't, I thought you were talkin to me. Or were you just speakin to yourself?” Race huffed lightly, he could hear the tease in his voice. “Whatever, it's the past already.” He opened his eyes again, jumping lightly in surprise. The guy had gotten closer, but, hey, they had gotten close enough to where Race could see them well enough to identify they were a bit shorter than him, dressed in red and-

And oh no.

Oh no, no, no.

He stared at him, his expression blank and surprised. “You okay kid?” He asked. Race swallowed and nodded. “Y… yeah- yeah. I'm good. Hey- would you look at the time? I should get back out there,” Race tried his luck, pushing himself off the wall only to feel his head spin in response. He fell forward a bit to be caught by him. “Hey, hey. Take it easy. No need to be in such a rush,” he soothed, leaning Race back against the wall. 

Race stood silently and watched the other move around the space before pulling something over and leading Race to sit on it. “There, relax now, it’s fine.” Race rested his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, breathing softly before speaking, “ain't you Spot Conlon?” He asked. He heard the other shift a bit. “That'd be me,” Spot confirmed. Race felt his heart stop. God, why him? “You got a name?” 

Panic flushed through him. God, a name? He can’t just give spot the name he goes by, then he’d tell Brooklyn and word would spread to Manhattan that Spot had helped him out. “Uh- An… Anthony.” He heard a small chuckle which made him raise his face out of his hands to look a the male. “What?” Race asked, confused to the laugh. “You just don’t sound to sure is all,” he shrugged. Race glanced away. “Yeah… I don’t tell people my name often, no body usually asks it.” Spot nodded and sat bye him after a moment. “You work in Manhattan?” Race gave a small nod, “you could tell?” 

Race and Spot sat there for a few minutes in silence before Spot spoke up; “So what were you doin in here anyways?” Race looked at his lap, sighing. “Don’t tell anyone, aight?” He glanced to Spot, seeing him nod, before looking forward. “I was… well, sorta… Look. Things ‘ave been rough for me with a few of the guys lately, I’ve been fightin’ with ‘em all left ‘n right and today I just sorta… tipped over.” He took and another glance, seeing Spot staring forward intently. It made him feel nervous, till he saw the boy look back at him with a sympathetic look. “Is Jack-a-boy fightin’ with ya?” Race shook his head. “He don’t know ‘bout it, been too hung up on Davey lately to notice, the guys love struck. ‘n Crutchie’s tried to help out but it don’t do much.” Spot nodded again and Race continued before he could speak, “And none of us are tellin’ Jack, he deals with enough so we swore off from it with the whole ‘snitches get stitches’ rule, ya know?” It fell quiet again before Spot spoke up. “Well, Anthony, sounds to me like you got a problem, and of Brooklyn’s good at one thing, it’s solvin problems. Why don’t you come sell in out terf for a bit? Get out the way of those boys, give you all a bit of space, yeah?” Anthony turned to stare at Spot after hearing him spit, meeting his eyes and glancing to see his hand. “Why’re you… why’re you helpin?” he asked, instead of accepting. “I’ve been in tough patches like yours, I’d hate to hear we lost a fellow Newsies because some situation got outta hand.” Race stared before he brought his hand up to spit in before shaking Spots. “Alright, it’s a deal.”

Spot helped Race up after that and the two left the dressing room, not together, Race left first. He searched around the party before finding Elmer, grinning at the boy and starting a conversation as he placed a cigar in his mouth, pretending nothing happened. But, he couldn’t help but glance over whenever he heard Spot’s voice, and grin a little bit more that he thought he could. He made a deal with the King of Brooklyn. Nobody usually gets to do that.

\--

Bright and early the next morning, Race was up and moving about the lodging house quietly. He got ready in his usual, picking up his pack of cigars and shoving it in his sling happily along with a lighter. He glanced to the clock on the wall. Only 10 minutes till the others wake up. He pursed his lips lightly and stretched, fixing his hat on his head as he moved to the kitchen, finding a snack before moving towards the door. 

He shut his eyes as he leaned on the wall, planning out what he was going to do in his head. When the clock struck he’d move to the square and line up at the circulation gates. He’d go through the routine, get his papes, and then move out. After making sure no one was following him or around, he’d hop on the next bus to Brooklyn. Perfect. 

He opened his eyes at the sound of the bell, pushing himself off the wall as he heard the groans of boys and the nagging of Jack that it was time to wake up. He watched as boys started to come downstairs, a few sending him a glance that he chose to ignore. But then he felt a particular look on him and his eyes met with Finch, who was glaring daggers at him, which he had to return of course. He watched the blonde turn and walk off to the kitchen but Race glared as he moved. God this was ridiculous. He glanced over to now see Specs coming into the room, completely avoiding looking at him and Race knew it. 

Race tried to push it off. In a bit more than an our he’d be in Brooklyn and out of their way. He smiled a bit to himself. Yeah. Today’ll be good.

As time passed and the clock finally struck, and everyone had made it to the square, that’s when things really started. David and Les showed up, which means Jack is distracted which leads to things like fights being something easier to get away with. 

Race grunted as he was shoved by Specs, Elmer moving forward to push him in return, but Race stopped him. “Specs, I’m gonna give you three seconds to apologize before I shove your face in the ground,” Race spat, Specs glared. “You have some nerve speaking like that Race! Do you have any clue how much you hurt Smalls?” Race rolled his eyes. “I didn't mean to hurt her! I was being true to myself! I didn't like her!” Specs huffed. “Being true to yourself? You're using being gay as an excuse! You're a ladies man Race and have been! You lied to get out of the relationship!” Race felt himself tense and he moved forward to punch at Specs. Before they could deck each other out, though, the bell rang signaling the boys in as the gate opened. Race hurried in to get his papers. 

He sat on the bus silently, fiddling with his hands. God, he was actually going this. He felt his nerves really hit as the bus stopped where he needed to get off. He stood from his spot with a shaky breath and then hurried off, stepping onto the sidewalk and glancing around. He spotted a Brooklyn kid already. He swallowed thickly before moving down the street, looking around for what could be a good spot before he heard someone. “Yo, Anthony!” He turned a bit to see Spot moving towards him with a grin on his face and no papes in his hands, which surprised Race. “Oh- uh, Spot, hey,” he greeted back, turning to face him fully. “Welcome to Brooklyn kid, I was figuring I’d meet ya here, quickest bus from ‘hattan to here,” he spoke, gesturing back before just beaming. “I figured I’d outta stop by to help ya out and set you up a spot. Brooklyn’s pretty big if you don’t know where you’re goin’.” Race was a bit shocked but he snapped himself out of it. “O-... yeah! Yeah, thanks. I uh, I need the help.”

The two walked around, Spot helping him by pointing out good selling spots, giving him tips on how to appeal to some of the locals, and being just a genuinely good help. By noon Race had sold his last pape, counting through his money as he walked with Spot down the sidewalk. “Seventy freakin’ dollars,” Race mumbled, giving Spot a glance, “I didn’t know it was possible to make that much.” Spot laughed loudly, “Then you haven’t been sellin’ right.” Race let out a small laugh of his own. “Maybe I should start sellin’ in Brooklyn everyday then,” he joked lightly. “Nah, we don’t want no Manhattan kid here constantly,” he teased. Race found himself laughing and smiling brightly. 

The duo ended up hanging out for quite a while. They went out for lunch, talked, Spot showed him around Brooklyn, introduced him to some of the kids there, and even invited him to join them in a card game that night.

And of course Race agreed. He went to the home with Spot, meeting some more kids and sitting in a circle with them , a small table in front of them. “I gotta warn ya, Spot, I’m the best cards player in Manhattan,” he warned with a friendly threat. Spot scoffed, “Yeah? No one’s beat me yet, bring it on.”

 

Race one every game. Spot stared at Race in Shock as the boy laid his cards down, winning again. “You have gotta be kiddin,” the leader gaped, leaning back in his seat. Race chuckled. “I warned ya,” he stated with a shrug, glancing around before spotting a clock, nearly choking on air. “Oh god- it’s 1 AM?” he asked, a bit panicked as he looked to Spot who furrowed his brows. “It’s only 1? We usually go later,” he pursed his lips. “Well the busses don’t run this late and we ain’t gotta give out papes on sunday, why don’t you stay over?” Race blinked. “Oh no- you’ve already done so much, I’d hate to-” “Nonsense, you’re an honorary Brooklyn boy now, Anthony. By order of me,” he stated with a grin. “For as long as our deal’s goin, you can do whatever ya please here,” spot stated, making his voice raise so everyone could here. And Race… Race felt honored. 

After a few more rounds Race was lead to the bunk room, where he was given a bed they had spare. And, it was nice. They were all tough guys, sure, but everyone there was pretty friendly. And pretty funny. They all stayed up late, telling jokes and talking about things that happened to them. Race felt like he was home, though of course Brooklyn could never replace Manhattan for him.

He had fallen asleep eventually, waking up the next day in the afternoon, surprisingly not the last to wake up, but also not the first. He stretched as he sat up and made his way out of the room, rubbing his eyes as he spotted Spot at the table. “‘Ey, Spot.” The male glanced over to him, nodding his head in greeting. “Sleep well?” he asked, Race nodded. “Yeah, actually. Bed’s are pretty comfortable.” Spot nodded a bit, “That’s good.”

Race was offered some food before he had to say by to the Brooklyn kids till tomorrow, giving them all a wave as he walked out the door and towards the nearest bus stop the drove into Manhattan.

He rubbed his eyes as he got to the doors of the house, opening them up and walking in with a yawn to be greeted immediately. “And where in hell have you been?” His eyes moved to see Jack, and a few other newsboys. Alright, most of them, and they were all looking at him. “What, a guy can’t get a little time for himself anymore?” he asked, almost offended. Jack rolled his eyes, “Not without sayin something! Where’d you go? Nobody even saw you ‘round town yesterday and you were gone all night!” Race huffed lightly. “I stayed at Medda’s aight? In the upper are where the stage crew works, yeah? Don’t worry,” he passed off and moved to head to the bunks, though he could hear Jack sighing.

\--

It became a routine. Race would go to Brooklyn, sell his papes, go for lunch with Spot, go back to Manhattan, except on saturday’s when he’d stay the night. He lied to the boys in Manhattan, saying he just stayed at Medda’s, who he talked to and she agreed to follow along with it until she gets caught.

And, Race was noticeably happier, being away from the fights he was in helped a ton with his mood and it made it so Specs and them didn’t bother him as much, which they seemed to notice because they’ve laid off of him, which was great. He sat on the bus with a smile on his face as he waited for his stop. This was the fourth week into this and Spot said he had a surprise for him, what could go wrong? He felt the bus stop and stood up with a grin and started to walk only to hear mumbling which made him stop in his tracks and turn to see- “Elmer, Specs, Finch? What’re you guys doin?” His voice was raised, clearly surprised, a bit defensive. The three boys stopped and looked at him, Finch swallowed. “Oh- heeey Race, se uh. Wes was following ya,” he admitted. Race was so shocked he missed his stop, looking out the window to meet eyes with Spot, who looked concerned. Oh god.

They got back to Manhattan where Race ended up back at the house in a panic as the others went to sell. They were going to out him, out him about Brooklyn, tell Jack where he’s been going. He was doomed.

And boy, was he right. He hid in his window sill as boys flooded into the house, staying there till that evening. “Racetrack! Get down from there, we gotta talk!” Race sighed before hopping down and moving into the room. All the boys were there, including Davey. He was going to be outted to everyone.

“What’re you doin goin to Brooklyn?” Jack asked after a long silence and Race stared at him before glancing away and shrugging. “Gee Jack, I don’t know, better sellin’ I guess. My spot’s been taken anyways.” Jack raised a brow. “I know that’s a lie, Racer, you have more than one spot, and even if you lost them all you’d find a new one. What’s goin on?” Race couldn’t say the truth. He couldn’t. “Look, I’ve just been goin to sell papes, aight? Get off my back-” “Lier!” Specs called out, “We saw you give the Brooklyn boy a look as the bus drove by, you friends with the kid? Is that what you’re doing going there?” Race tensed, and shook his head but it was too late, people were assuming it, trying to guess who it was, and Jack was staring at him expectantly.

Race felt pressure build up on him before he answered. “I’m leavin Manhattan,” he stated, firmly. Everyone fell silent, everyone stared at Race. “What-” Jack started but Race held up his hand. “I’m leavin till some of yous learn to respect me. My choices. If you want more on the story as Specs and Finch, or even Smalls.” He put his hand down and straightened up. “You can catch me in Brooklyn.”

He turned and started to the door. “Race wait-” he paused and turned to see David. “Calm down, why don't just stay and talk?” Race stared at him before turning forward. “No. I'll talk after an apology.” And, he left.

The busses stop after six, and he barely missed the last bus. So, he just decided to walk. 

He felt some nerves bundle up as he caught sight of the restaurant he and Spot usually ate at. God, how was he going to explain this to him? He couldn't help the nervousness that he had built up, but it only expanded as he heard a soft, “Anthony?” Behind him. He stopped walking and turned to see Spot. “Hey Spot-” “What're you doin here?” He asked, some worry lacing his tone. Race didn't know how to respond, “I- erm, I could be askin you the same thing?” He stated, hesitant. Spot didn't seem to impressed. “Race, is Brooklyn. I live here,” he stated. Race glanced off. “Oh, right… Well, uh,” he sighed lightly. “Look, I uh, I need a place t’ stay for a bit, some shit happened back in Manhattan and… I'm not going back for a while.”

Spot seemed to understand because he didn't think twice before agreeing and leading Race into the restaurant so they could eat and talk about it. And, while they didn't go i to depth, Race told Spot enough by being as vague as possible. And, Spot never questioned him and respected his comfort zones. It was… really nice.

After that Spot and him walked to the home and he announced what was going to be happening with Race and living there. Over all everyone seemed pretty happy and it was nice. Spot and Race chilled on their own for a bit after a bit of chatter.

“So you had a surprise for me today, right?” Race asked after a bit of laughter was shared between them. “Hm? Oh yeah,” Spot stated, hopping up from his spot and rushing off, coming back a minute later with a box. “It's just a congratulations for doing so well here,” he pushed the box into Race's hands, who accept it and opened it quickly, his eyes widening a small bit. It was just a silver bracelet but it had ‘Brooklyn’ carved into it and laced with some red paint. He took it out of the box and stared at it. It looked pricey, something Race might've tried to steal back in the day. He looked to Spot who he saw wasn't facing him. “Spot...thank you a lot, this is somethin special,” he spoke nearly in a whisper, but he was nothing short of genuine as he put the bracelet on his wrist. “Yeah, yeah, you're welcome.”

That moment Race felt something bubbling in his chest he couldn't quite place an emotion on.

\--

It was a few days after all that. Race was happy, homesick sure, but he was getting on fine with what he was stuck with. The Brooklyn boys were all tough but pretty nice and they all got along pretty well despite him being from Manhattan. And Spot and him had gotten close enough to be considered buddy buddy, some kids even jokingly calling Race “queen of Brooklyn”. Spot found it funny, Race didn't too much.

But, the peace of it all didn't last long.

It was saturday, so all the boys had stayed up late playing cards and enjoying themselves. Which means none of them were expecting the loud banging at their door bright and early that morning. Race was up right on time with Spot, though Race was more defensive, shouting out as he woke. The rest had woken up as Spot moved to the window to look outside, seemingly taken back by what he saw. “Oi, Spotty! What's the big deal?” A boy asked out. Spot turned and headed towards the door. “A mob is what,” Spot grumbled as he walked out, others following, including Race.

Spot unlocked the door to the house, after stretching, staring blankly as he looked up at Jack. “Huh. Kelly. You need somethin?” He asked, am annoyed tone to his voice. “Yeah, actually. You got one of our boys here, and we're here to bring him back.” Spot pursed his lips, “Hmm, I don't recall lettin’ any 'Hattan kid stay here. A name by any chance?” Jack rolled his eyes. “Racetrack Higgins.” Spot became genuinely confused. “Oh uh, I don't know any Racetrack-” “It's me Spot.” Spot turned to look at Race, his brows furrowing. “Anthony-” Race moved to the door, peeking out the boys. “It's my street name, the one I'm famous by.” He looked at the boys, an unamused expression on his face. “And what is it you all want?” he asked, arms crossing. “Racer,” Jack started but was interrupted. “Race we know you aren't lyin,” Specs admitted. Race's eyes went to him. “We uh, we talked to smalls. She admitted some things we didn't know and… we're sorry.” Race stared at them and rolled his eyes. “It's about time, god, you all making me wait this long should be a crime,” he replied dramatically. “So… you're coming back?” Finch asked, standing by Specs. Race nodded firmly.

\--

Spot felt his heart break. As he watched Race give his goodbyes, him leaving Brooklyn and probably not coming back to sell sort of did a number on him. Especially when considering he… sort of grew soft for Race. Well, ever since they met he had fallen for him, completely. So thinking about the fact it’d be forever sense they’d see each other again…

“Yo, Anthony,” he made his way over and Race looked at him, his smile faltering a small bit but he regained it. “Hey Spot, I guess uh, this is goodbye right? Deals off?” Spot nodded, forcing out a chuckle, “Yeah… Deals off. No need for you in my terf anymore.” They stood their awkwardly for a minute before Race fidgeted with his bracelet and then raised up his wrist to Spot, “Suppose you’ll want this back, right?” Spot looked to the piece of jewelry and shook his head. “Nah, you can keep it, I gave it to you, didn’t I?” Race laughed softly with a nod. “Yeah, I guess you did.” 

Another minute passed. “Race! Come on! We gotta catch our bus!” Jack called. Race tensed and called back, “Yeah! One second!” He stared down at Spot before pulling him into a hug. “Thanks for everything Spot,” he mumbled before pulling back and turning. He hurried off to join his boys before leaving the building, trailing behind his group a bit.

But, he didn’t get far down the street before he heard a loud shout; “Anthony, wait!” And, he stopped and turned, watching Spot run up to him. The male slowed down and reached up, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him down into a kiss. 

Race fell still, and felt Spot pull back. His mind processing barely to stand back up straight. Boys behind him let out either confused questions or whistles. “Look, Brooklyn wouldn’t mind having you stop by every now and then,” Spot mumbled, looking away, flustered. Race was still in shock. “You- you kissed,” he stammered, before grinning brightly. Spot turned his head in confusion after Race fell silent only to watch the other dip down and pull him into a kiss. 

Cheers came from the boys behind them, and Race pulled back. “You know what, ‘hattan wouldn’t mind havin’ ya either.” 

\--

“... Race?”

“Yeah, Spot?” 

Two years being together and they were celebrating it with a dinner the brooklyn boys set up with the help of Manhattan, nobody told Race anything but he got hints Spot planned it all. 

And here they were, sitting as a table, by themselves, boys around them doing different things to make sure everything stays perfect, David had just gave them their food, it was all good. But Spot seemed nervous and it was sort of worrying Race.

“Look,” Spot started, running a hand through his hair, “I’m no good with my words sometimes so this is really hard to do…” Race stared at him in confusion but watched as Spot slid from his chair and onto his knees in front of Race, propping one up so he was kneeling on one. Race felt emotions already flooding over him. “So um, Anthony Higgins, I’ve been wondering that… well, if you’re not busy doing anything for the rest of your life, would you… Would you marry me?” Race teared up, before throwing himself down and into Spot’s arms, crying happily and he said yes, cheers filled the room. And Race couldn’t believe it, any of it.

\--

“You may now kiss the Newsie!” Medda announced, Race happily bending down and kissing Spot gently before the two separated as boys cheered, some crying, some clearly proud. It was a celebration for newsies everywhere, all were invited to the big wedding between the famous Spot and his love Racetrack. 

The reception was even better, Spot and Race shared their dance, Spot crying through it and Race trying to hold back. After, they both seperated for a moment so Race could give a dance with Medda. 

As the night went on, the newlyweds were both enjoying themselves. Race had even met up with Smalls, the two sharing a dance and apologies between each other. 

Bye the end of it Race had felt alive, like a whole new emotion hit him but he was just really happy. And he was definitely in love as Spot pulled him close on their way to the car and kissed him softly. 

“I love you Anthony.”

“I love ya to, Sean.”

**Author's Note:**

> Completely AU- doesn’t take place in any particular time period, the Strike happened but with a modern-esque feel, some stuff is still old fashioned, Papers are still relevant, papes cost .02 in newsies and cost a 1 dollar in this which means buying 50 = 2.50 (50=.60). They still get 47.50 to keep if they sell all 50. The lodging houses exist too, sorta. They’re all ran by the government and have a caregiver but each one had a child in charge (also the leader of the terf) to make sure everyone stays okay while the caregiver’s away- they only visit once every two weeks to drop off a ton of food for everyone and stuff like that.  
> Leaders-  
> Manhattan: Jack- Kid Blink used too but he stepped down.  
> Brooklyn: Spot  
> Bronx: Smalls  
> Woodside: Jittery  
> Medda’s theater in a neutral zone in case there’s fighting going on between terfs. Medda is called mom by a good portion of newsies ‘Mother/Mama Medda’. Some call her aunt/aunty Medda. Davey calls her aunt, Les calls her Aunty, Jack calls her just Medda, Race calls her Mama Medda, Crutchie calls her mother Medda.  
> Medda finds it really sweet and has a soft spot for all the kids, letting them stay overnight and get in for free a lot- they can also host most events at her theater for free after her last show closes up for that night. Some Newsies even participate in her shows for a small pay, a lot of them love it.


End file.
